


The Child and the Living Forest

by 0w0h3ww0



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Magic, Monsters, Spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:40:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29476365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0w0h3ww0/pseuds/0w0h3ww0
Summary: In a fantasy world, a child is orphaned by circumstance and forced to strike out on their own in a world that they do not know.
Kudos: 1





	The Child and the Living Forest

Once upon a time, in a land quite unlike the one you are acclimated to, the world was filled with wonder. Gods still roamed the earth at their own whims, taking what and who they pleased, and humans were among the weakest of creatures. In this land, a Child was walking along a long, winding path that he had no idea of where it went. The Child was nondescript, with tan skin and long brown hair typical of the region. They were dirty, with ragged torn clothes, dried tear trails running down their face, running lines along their face where the dirt had cleared. Blood and dust gathered between their fingers, clumping together and flaking off as they walked.

Their house had been recently destroyed in a dispute between two Dräkon, wingless dragons, their red metallic bodies intertwined and writhing together, wreaking a path of destruction with their gigantic tails and fiery breath. It was their mating season, and as such were very aggressive and inattentive to their surroundings. The Child had been warned by their parent to not walk the path alone, as dangerous beasts roamed the countryside, who would eat you before you even saw them. But the Child’s parent was not there, as they lay crushed in the wreckage, and the Child knew of nowhere else to go. 

They and their parent lived far from any town, so they walked further along the path, not knowing where it went, since their parent made monthly trips along the path for preserved meats and weaponry. The Child carried with them all that they could salvage from the wreckage in time; Several days’ worth of food, several changes of clothing, and a sword they could barely carry that they had to pry from their parent’s bloody fingers, sheathed in a scabbard covered in bandages.

Eventually, after several days of walking, the Child came upon a forest. There were many stumps and burned trees a short ways in, but the forest still looked ominous, dark, and stretched as far as the eye could see. The path almost became lost among the shrubbery and uneven ground broken up by tree roots and dull rocks. But, as previously mentioned, the Child had nowhere else they could think of going, so they entered the forest. Passing through the forest, the Chïlde saw many things in the spaces between the trees.

Pakrannenkantaranenn, vengeful spirits left by those who did not make it out of the woodland, howling and rushing through the undergrowth in anguish. Blarchenkaüfelrn, a form of animate mushroom, whose bright pink poisonous caps could be seen skittering across the upper branches of the trees, scattering their spores. Wilfmænkännteren, wolf-like constructs made of moss and bone, looking for a way to fill their absent stomachs, but never finding release. The Child hid from them as they passed by, intent on finding a place to sleep, as twilight was nearing, and ominous clouds gathered above the foliage.

After a time, the Child came across what appeared to be a rotting pile of wood. Thinking that they could build themself a shelter from the raindrops that had begun to fall, the Chïlde tried to pick up some of the flatter pieces, but none would budge. While trying in vain to yank a piece from the pile, the Chïlde noticed that the timbers had begun to shake. Hoping that some of the pieces were beginning to come loose, the Child pulled even harder, stepping on top of the pile and pushing off with their legs while gripping a large chunk.

To their surprise, the timbers began to rise from the ground, and shifted beneath them, shaking them off. The Child landed with a soft thump a few feet from the rising wood pile, and looked up at it, stunned. The wood had risen to form a shape not unlike one of the Dräkon that had destroyed their house, with a long sinuous body and six legs that ended in sharp talons formed of tree roots. It peered at the Child from black eyes with yellow irises that opened from beneath the wood that moved as if it had been made flesh. It blinked in surprise and then craned it’s neck down, closer to the Child so that it might examine them closer.

The Child stood, frozen. All of a sudden, the Child gathered their senses and ran away screaming to hide behind a nearby ash tree, tripping slightly against the uneven roots spiralling through the earth. The wooden Creature followed the Child leisurely, curious as to what they were doing. It crushed the sword that the Child had set on a nearby mound of moss nearby beneath it’s massive feet. As the Creature tread around the tree, the Child yelped in surprise, shut their eyes, and trembled against the tree. As several moments went by, the Child slowly opened their eyes, to see the Creature staring, very close to their face.

And promptly shut their eyes again.

After another several moments went by, the Child opened their eyes and looked at the Creature. It looked expectant, as if it expected them to burst into song. The Child quietly edged around the tree, keeping their back against the tree’s rough bark, their clothes slightly dragging behind them. The Creäture followed them, it’s head never moving vertically, it’s eyes never blinking. It moved with a slow, sinuous grace, unrepresentative of it’s gigantic frame. The Child opened their mouth and asked the Creature if it could understand them.

The Creature had no mouth, but still a voice sounded, seemingly from within the Child’s own head. The Creature told the Child that yes, it could understand them, and that it had been waiting for a human to enter the forest so that it might ask them a singular question.


End file.
